Adam: So you’re going down Kingsway. It’s kind of funny that you’re on Kingsway. We were just chatting with friends of ours the other day about Kingsway and how it’s almost a strip of a bygone Vancouver in a lot of ways.

Matt: Yeah, it’s kind of crazy to think that a main artery that runs a huge portion of the city is so underbuilt.

Adam: Yeah. It’s a very odd strip. And I mean to be quite honest, it’s one of my favourite strips to drive because it’s eye candy, right? I mean it’s interesting to see the shops, and what’s coming in, what’s going out but it’s always been one of my favourite arteries to drive in Vancouver but it’s hard to believe that it’s not going to change very quickly in the coming years.

Matt: Yeah. No. It seems like it’s ripe for redevelopment and rebranding.

Adam: Well, what we wanted to talk about today…we’ve talked about assignments, we’ve talked about presales,

Matt: Yeah.

Adam: Here’s another investment strategy…buying in an area where new developments are coming to and I don’t know if we’ve talked about this too extensively but you know, it’s worth a short at least.

Matt: Definitely. Yeah, when we talked about presales we talked about how a relator can help you gauge where the built environment in a certain area is going and the same holds true here. This is a tried and true investment strategy because when large developers in Vancouver start betting on a neighbourhood you know that there are huge changes because they’re putting tons of money behind rebranding it and they’re using some of the best marketing people in the game

Adam: Right.

Matt: to do so, so think about…I mean Yaletown used to be industrial. Marine and Canby, nobody could believe that that was going to be 1000.00 a foot, no one could believe it was going to be popular, let alone a 1000.00 a foot. Brentwood, instead of car dealerships, we’re talking about a world class community now that’s trading at over 900.00 a foot…developers are people

Adam: Over a 1000.00 now, yeah.

Matt: Maybe over a 1000.00, yeah. So the long and short is developers can turn neighbourhoods around and a lot quicker than most people think so we’re not here to pitch new construction but we’re here to say watch where the developers are going and look at newer development in that area

Adam: I agree.

Matt: but not brand new and pick it up before the rebranding starts.

Adam: Well you know, this is the thing. You know, I was chatting with clients of mine yesterday and we kind of were talking about how you know developers like Westbank or Cressey, I mean these developers, I mean the numbers have to work but now a days if they’re building in Vancouver, Cressey doesn’t get out of bed for less than 1000.00 a foot.

Matt: And Westbank, I mean think of The Albernie. The one thing about Westbank is they are consistently charging prices that you can’t believe

Adam: Right.

Matt: when you first hear it and then they sell the building out super quick or they have two units left so, so

Adam: Vancouver House, the Kengo Kuma Project, yeah…okay

Matt: Yeah. I mean they’re tried and true. I mean, if you’re going to bet on a developer raising prices, I mean Westbank is one to bet on for sure. So in this case, I mean, we can use Joyce Street Sky Train Station as an example, right?

Adam: Fitting since you’re on Kingsway.

Matt: Yeah. Yeah, exactly. I mean, this is an area that…I was talking to a client yesterday, a guy who you know, grew up in Vancouver and I said you know you might consider Joyce and the long and short of his answer was it’s kind of, there’s kind of a lot of stigma around there. I’m not sure about… You know I can’t see it. I can’t see it.

Adam: Right and we’ve been talking about Joyce for quite some time but it’s funny to think that like you can go right now and buy in a building say like Urba for 650.00 to 700.00 a foot in Vancouver

Adam: it’s a concrete tower right and I mean and rentals are allowed and everything else but it’s just crazy that you can go and buy that because you know that when Westbank goes into that area, they’re not charging 650.00 or 750.00 a foot and you know that everything is going to rise with the tide, right?

Matt: Exactly. Yeah, I would bet on at least 1000.00, probably more. We probably won’t even refer to it as Joyce after Westbank’s done to it. They’ll probably rebrand it some, some name that we can’t imagine right now and you know five years from now it’s going to be the hottest neighbourhood in the city but one thing, that seems, the writing is on the wall, it’s not going to be trading at 700.00 a foot after Westbank’s done with it.

Adam: Yeah. No, I think it’s going to be called Williamsburg now.

Matt: Yeah.

Adam: Or is that the East Village? What are we doing? It’s always New York, right?

Matt: Yeah. Exactly.

Adam: Okay, Matt so just to wrap things up, so what is the strategy here?

Matt: The strategy here is as an alternative to presales which are hyper competitive right now or assignments, look at the areas that developers are looking at right now but haven’t launched their projects so Joyce is a perfect example. Westbank is going in there. We’re just waiting on information. Look around those areas. Look for newer construction, something say newer than 2000 that allows rentals, buy in because those prices are going to rise with the tide. That is a sure way to make a great return on investment.

Adam: Well we’ve seen developers doing a great job of pushing the price per square foot up in these areas so I mean it does make sense. Okay so we’ll leave it there but Matt we’ll be back on Wednesday, talking postelection with Tom Davidoff.

Matt: Get out and vote and we’ll talk to you then. Enjoy the rest of the sunny week-end, guys.

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We are your premier source for buying, selling and investing in Vancouver’s Real Estate Market. Listen to current podcasts with today’s leading experts and hosts Adam and Matt Scalena. Listen to the hottest topics about the Vancouver Real Estate Market. They are passionate about the Vancouver Real Estate industry and podcasting the latest News about it.